Área: Foreign Language/Lengua Extranjera

Subject: English/Inglés
Grade 1st BGU

Table of Contents
1. Methodology of the Communicative Approach
2. Structure of the texts
3. General teaching strategies
4. Answers:, scripts, Teaching Tips, vocabulary
5. Videos for Teacher Training

1. MARCO TEORICO: ENFOQUE COMUNICATIVO

Janine Matts
ABD en Lingüística Aplicada de la Universidad de Illinois, Chicago
INTRODUCCIÓN
El enfoque comunicativo surgió de la noción de que podemos adquirir una segunda lengua (L2) de
una manera muy parecida a la que adquirimos la primera (L1); es decir, a base de INPUT. Cuando
nosotros empezamos a aprender nuestra L1, nadie nos explicó reglas gramaticales, ni nos dibujaron
tablas de conjugaciones. ¿Por qué? Porque el cerebro humano no está diseñado para aprender y
almacenar lenguas de esa manera. Por esto muchos compañeros nuestros del colegio tienen la
misma queja: “¡Ve, estudié diez años de inglés y no puedo entenderles a los gringos! ¡Y me demoro
full en decir una sola oración!” Es porque hemos estado enseñando mal, de una manera que no es
compatible con la fisiología humana.
Cambiemos eso, entonces. Veamos cómo aprendemos nuestra L1. Desde que nacemos, las personas
que nos rodean nos hablan en nuestra lengua, de una forma simplificada pero gramatical. También
tenemos el input de todas las conversaciones en nuestra L1 en las que nos somos participantes, pero
oímos. Nadie espera cuando somos bebés que produzcamos construcciones complejas, ni que
produzcamos lenguaje antes de un año de edad. Esto es porque es necesario estar expuesto al idioma
antes de producirlo. El error que cometen muchos profesores de lenguas es enseñar de forma
explícita cierta estructura gramatical, y enseguida obligar a los estudiantes a producirlo, sin haberlo
visto en contexto antes.
El enfoque comunicativo entonces se centra en el INPUT. Es de suma importancia proporcionar a
los estudiantes un buen input para que luego puedan adquirir el vocabulario o la gramática en
cuestión. Luego, como los alumnos ya habrán sido expuestos a estas formas (en el caso de la
gramática), pueden ellos mismos DEDUCIR cuál es la estructura que deben dominar. De ahí solo
hace falta una instrucción mínima en la fórmula gramatical, y se procede al OUTPUT, que es
cuando ya se le pide al estudiante que produzca la forma. Vamos a ver cada uno de estos pasos a
continuación.
Además de esto, el enfoque comunicativo prioriza LA COMUNICACIÓN. Al final todos
entendemos si alguien nos dice, “Yo es de Londrés”, aunque sea agramatical. La comunicación
humana siempre ocurre dentro de un CONTEXTO, y es preciso que como profesores de lenguas
creemos un contexto de la vida real para cada actividad. De esta forma, el estudiante tiene siempre
una META COMUNICATIVA y una META LINGÜÍSTICA. Por ejemplo, si voy a enfocarme
en el imperativo, mi meta comunicativa puede ser poder explicar cómo de punto A a punto B y mi
meta lingüística sería mandatos. Si se trata de vocabulario, mi meta comunicativa puede ser poder

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comprar en un mercado y mi meta lingüística sería vocabulario para frutas y verduras. El enfoque
comunicativo también enfatiza la importancia de la conexión entre forma y significado. Es decir,
debo saber que el ESTAR +-ando/-endo (forma) es lo que utilizo para expresar un evento que está
sucediendo en el presente (significado). No basta con aprenderse de memoria una simple fórmula
como en matemática, sino que es esencial poder conectar esa forma a su debido contexto.
Veamos a continuación entonces cómo se emplea este método para la enseñanza de lenguas
extranjeras.
STRUCTURED INPUT
Cada enfoque gramatical o de vocabulario debe empezar con INPUT. Esto quiere decir que el
estudiante debe ser expuesto a las palabras de vocabulario o a la estructura meta de gramática dentro
de un contexto. Krashen (1985) dice que deberíamos emplear la idea de “I+1”: es decir, de lo que
los alumnos ya tienen en el idioma, SOLO AGREGARLE UN ELEMENTO MÁS. Si incluimos
nuevo vocabulario y dos nuevas estructuras gramaticales, es abrumador para el alumno. Tomemos
un ejemplo del español. Digamos que la estructura gramatical en la que vamos a enfocarnos es el
pretérito de verbos regulares. Primero, el/la profesor(a) puede empezar con una serie de imágenes
sobre cosas que él/ella y su familia hicieron el día anterior. Es importante que este input sea oral y
escrita. Por ejemplo:

Me desperté a las 7:00./ Mi hijo y yo desayunamos./ Mi esposo me llevó a la universidad.

Es importante resaltar lo que es la estructura meta, tanto con la voz cuando el/la profesor(a) lo dice
como por escrito, para dirigir el enfoque de los alumnos hacia esa forma. Aquí doy por hecho que
los alumnos ya conocen este vocabulario, y que también ya han visto los pronombres de objeto
directo y reflexivos. Si no, no puedo incluir oraciones con “me” para no obligarles a procesar dos
estructuras nuevas al mismo tiempo.
ACTIVIDADES DE STRUCTURED INPUT
Después de que el/la profesor(a) presente el input, luego puede darles a los alumnos unas
actividades de structured input. Lo más clave de estas actividades es que NO DEBEN EXIGIR A
LOS ALUMNOS QUE PRODUZCAN LA ESTRUCTURA (O EL VOCABULARIO) TODAVÍA.
Deberían estar expuestos a ello, pero no producirlo ellos. Estas actividades pueden ser (pero no se
limitan a): opción múltiple, cierto-falso, emparejar, llenar el espacio en blanco (con nombres de
compañeros, lugares, etc. pero NO la meta de la lección), ranking o ordenar una lista…
Sigamos con el pretérito. Después de presentar su día, el profesor puede hacer preguntas C/F a los
alumnos sobre lo que vieron.
1. Ayer yo me desperté a las 9.00. C F
2. Yo manejé a la universidad. C F
3. Mi hijo desayunó huevos. C F
Se puede desarrollar otra actividad con otros personajes, como la familia Simpson.
Instrucciones: ¿Quién de la familia Simpson probablemente hizo estas cosas ayer? (Marge, Bart,
Homer, Maggie)
1. Comió donuts. ______________
2. Jugaron con amigos. ___________ _____________

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3. Cocinó. ________________
De esta forma los estudiantes tienen cada vez más input y ellos mismos pueden ir deduciendo cómo
se forma el pretérito en español.
Move to General Strategies
INSTRUCCIÓN EXPLÍCITA MÍNIMA
Como los alumnos ya han estado expuestos a las palabras de vocabulario o la estructura gramatical,
ya están familiarizados. En el caso de la gramática, ahora solo debería hacer falta una muy breve
explicación de la estructura, solo para reforzar lo que los alumnos ya han visto y han deducido.
Entonces, en el caso del pretérito, se podría hacer así:

El pretérito se usa para eventos puntuales con un principio y un final en el pasado.

Con los verbos regulares, se forma de la siguiente manera:

-AR: (hablar > habl-) -ER/-IR (vivir > viv-)

yo hablé nosotros hablamos yo viví nosotros vivimos
tú hablaste vosotros hablasteis tú viviste vosotros vivisteis
él ellos él ellos
ella | habló ellas | hablaron ella | vivió ellas | vivieron
Ud. Uds. Ud. Uds.

No hace falta más que eso. A la larga, los alumnos acaban sacando más de su input que de tablas y
cuadros de verbos.
ACTIVIDADES DE STRUCTURED OUTPUT
Después de pasar por el structured input (algunas actividades) y la instrucción explícita mínima, el
alumno recién AHORA puede empezar a producir la estructura. Las actividades de structured
output, igual a las de structured input, deberían tener UN SOLO ENFOQUE gramatical o de
vocabulario. Siempre deberían estar ubicados en un contexto de la vida real. Queremos evitar
ejercicios de llenar el espacio en blanco con los verbos entre paréntesis. ¿Por qué? Veamos:
Instrucciones: Conjugar el verbo en el pretérito según el sujeto de cada oración.
1. El año pasado, el presidente _________ (aprobar) una nueva ley de inmigración.
2. Ayer yo ___________ (comer) demasiado dulce!
Etc.
Estos ejercicios no sirven para el proceso de adquisición. El problema es que no obligan al
estudiante a entender lo que significa cada oración (aparte de que no tienen un contexto en común).
Pueden ir a su tabla y simplemente ver el sujeto y si el verbo termina en –AR o –ER/-IR y llenar el
espacio de forma correcta sin haber procesado nada del significado.

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Dentro del enfoque comunicativo procuramos crear actividades que se relacionen con la vida real y
que sean task-based; es decir que consistan en varios pasos. Por ejemplo, sigamos con el pretérito:
Será cierto…??
Paso 1: De la siguiente lista de verbos, elige 10 para formular preguntas para tu compañero sobre lo
que hizo durante las últimas vacaciones: hablar, escuchar, comer, subir, estudiar, bailar, escribir,
compartir, nadar, cantar, beber, salir. Escribe las preguntas en tu cuaderno.
Paso 2: Hazle las preguntas al/a la compañero. Tu compañero puede contestarte con la verdad o con
una mentira. Anota sus respuestas.
Paso 3: Adivina si cada respuesta fue verdad o mentira. Averígualo con tu compañero.
Paso 4: Cambia de papel.
Paso 5: Prepara un párrafo para compartir con la clase sobre las cosas que sí hizo tu compañero.
Lo bueno de este tipo de actividades es que están contextualizados en la vida real y les obligan a los
alumnos a procesar el significado de lo que producen. Vamos desde oraciones cortas a un párrafo.
Además, el output de un estudiante se vuelve input para los demás.
Fuente consultada:
Krashen, S.D. (1985). The Input Hypothesis: Issues and Implications. New York: Longman.
Lectura recomendada:
Lee, J. & VanPatten, B. (2003). Making Communicative Language Teaching Happen. 2nd edition.
Boston: McGraw Hill.

2. OUR NEW TEXTBOOK SERIES

Our new series uses a methodology that complements the communicative approach. It is called
CLIL, Content and Language Integrated Learning. It focuses on the idea of teaching language
through other subjects. In other words, our students will read a short text about DNA or a famous
sports figure or how to bake a cake and in doing so, they acquire grammatical forms and
vocabulary. They can also do this through listening to an audio recording about social media or
how to sew.

Both the Communicative Approach and CLIL are widely used around the world in foreign language
classrooms. In order to be able to implement and use the new book series successfully, we as
teachers need to determine what our ultimate goal is for our students to achieve in our classes. Do
we want them to simply memorize words and fill in the blanks on tests? Or do we want them to be
able to use the language in real life in their future professions or travels? You will see how these
new approaches and methodologies allow your students to use English in their lives.

How the new text is structured.

The 12 books in the series reach the language level of B1, according to the CEFR Common
European Frame of Reference.
BGE (Grades 2-4) focuses on Level A1.
BGM (Grades 5-7) focuses on Level A2.
BGS (Grades 8-10) focuses on Level B1.1

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BACH (1-3) focuses on Level B1.2

For each school year, there are seis modules in the textbooks. Each module is developed
around a specific topic, such as Tourism, or Outer Space. All of the modules follow the
same structure, with the same types of activities, all through the 12 grades. We call them
Curriculular Strands, and they are aligned with other subjects from the Ministerio.

1. Introductory Page
Triangle. The triangle presents the grammatical structures, the vocabulary, the other
academic areas, and the values in the unit. The title of the unit is in the middle of the
triangle.
2. Communication and Cultural Awareness
This strand develops the concept of self related to others. The purpose is to develop
tolerance for differences, resistance to peer pressure/bullying, and the rejection of injustice
and racism. We have made special efforts to highlight Ecuadorian topics through English
rather than only presenting cultures where English is spoken.
3. Oral Communication
In the Oral Communication strand, there are two types of activities: listening and creating
language exchanges.
In Grades 2-4, there is a Phonics Program to help the students learn to read better in
English, by recognizing letter/sound patterns.
In Grades 4-10, there is a Phonology Program to help the students pronounce better. It is
based on specific problems that Spanish students have in speaking English.
All audio Script:S are in the Teachers’ Guide and have been recorded for you.

ALL Oral Communication activities should include language exchanges: questions and
answers (students should be taught to ask the questions!), or comments and extensions (A: I
like peas. B: I like peas, too/Not me).
Oral Communication should provide scaffolding for possibilities of language to use. For
example: remember to talk about your vacation in past tense/ here are some verbs you
might use/You could ask: Do you like.

Listening activities, which are found in the Oral Communication sections of the text, are
always realistic audios that can be anything from conversations between friends to radio
shows to fragments of lectures. We as teachers need to always prepare students for
listening with Pre-listening or Before Listening activities. Be sure your students know the
topic of the listening and who is speaking. They can brainstorm words they associate with
the topic and you can write them on the board. You should review new vocabulary words
before they listen. These words are found in the vocabulary box at the bottom of the page.
Read the words and definitions with the students. Then you can read the definition and ask
the students for the word it defines.
Insert pagina from text here.
Let’s look at an example from a module. Here we can see an Oral Communication page.
You can see the vocabulary words at the bottom of the page. The first activity says: “Pair
work. Look at the picture of Kaylee, the alien girl. You have one minute to write as many
words as possible to describe her. Write the words in the box.” This has students brainstorm
words associated with an alien girl.

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Number two says: “Kaylee is our alien friend. She went to visit astronaut Thomas Green on
board the Malcom Space Station. Thomas shows Kaylee how to prepare and eat food
where there is zero gravity.” This gives students the context for the listening. We can ask
them questions like, “What words do you know related to space stations? Astronauts?”
“What do you want to know?”

If there is any vocabulary that goes with the reading, make sure to that the students learn the
vocabulary before they listen, especially the pronunciation!

Now students are ready to listen to the recording and answer the true/false questions in part
3. You can play the recording a few times to have students listen carefully and even check
their answers. Then you can have them check their answers with a partner or review them as
a class.

After completing the activities, you can ask students questions that help them relate even
more to what they heard. For example, you can say, “Do you think space food is delicious?”
or “Would you like to be an astronaut?” These questions help your students to connect with
the situations they see in the modules.

4. Reading
Reading is like listening. The students need preparing. You can use the KWL (Know,
Want, Learn) procedure about the topic of the reading.
a. Before they read, the students should answer these questions in their notebooks.
There is no right answer. This is to activate their knowledge.
i. What do you KNOW about the topic of the reading? (related words, facts,
opinions)
ii. What do you WANT to know? (words/questions)
iii. After they read, or during the reading, they can answer:
1. What did you LEARN about the topic? (new vocabulary, new
information)

Have students read the title and brainstorm ideas about what the reading may contain. Give
them key words from the text. Have them guess what the text is about from the words. Let’s
look at an example of this from a reading section in the modules.
Here we can see three words that appear in the text: spacecraft, earth, and moon. Students
have to use them to think about what the text might be about.

As students are reading, have them circle the words they don’t know. Try to explain these
words very simply in English. Some of these words are defined in the “vocabulary” box on
the page. Prediction.

After the reading, there are comprehension questions. You can have students work on these
individually, in pairs, or as a class. Sometimes you may want to ask the students to read the
text again silently to have a better understanding. After these questions, try to help your
students to connect with the reading by asking them how they feel or what they think about
a particular aspect.

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5. Writing
The last of the four basic skills is writing. The writing activities in this series are basic,
based on the topics of the modules, and related to real life. They all have a specific
communicative purpose. They range from simple pieces at the beginning, like recipes or a
short email, later to how to’s, letters, blogs, in the higher grades persuasive essays and
newspaper articles. Everything the students write should be shared with a partner, with a
small group, with a class.

Make sure to give the students support for the writing activities: how many sentences, what
the first sentence looks like, the tenses they can use. Always give them a sample that they
can use as a model, although many of the writing activities in the textbooks have samples
already. Make it a practice for students to keep in mind who their target audience is. Is it a
recipe that their classmates should prepare? Is it a newspaper article that other citizens
would read? This helps them to use a language that is appropriate.

When students are required to write a paragraph, the structure is always the same.
All paragraphs have five sentences: a topic sentence with an opinion; three supporting
sentences with reasons or details, and a concluding sentence.
Here’s an example: The topic sentence can be: I love the beach. Then make a question
from the sentence; Why do you love the beach? The supporting sentences answer the
question: The food is delicious. The sun is warm. The ocean is nice. The concluding
sentence is related back to the topic sentence. I want to go to the beach.

Remember that writing is a process. That means just writing a paragraph and turning it in
for a grade is not enough. Students should plan, write, review, edit, and rewrite their texts.
Your feedback on their writing should give them a chance to figure out their mistakes (in
other words, circle them and use some type of code to let students know what type of error
it is instead of correcting them). Encourage them by letting them know what they do well,
like “Great grammar!” or “Nice vocabulary!” Help your students to find the joy in writing!

5. Language through the Arts

This section focuses on creative problem solving and imaginative thinking. It includes
different activities that include problem solving, songs, poems, short stories, and chants.
Activities for students: add lyrics to songs, design inventions, solve a classroom problem,
mind-mapping, role play.

6. Projects
In each module, there is a project that presents an opportunity for your students to create
something or solve a problem. In this section, collaborative language is very important so
that the students can interact in English as they create.

8. Assessments
There are two assessments in each module. Each assessment has Speaking, Listening,
Grammar, Vocabulary, and Writing activities so that the students can show that they have
learned the material. There is also a Self-Assessment Chart, where the students reflect on
what they have learned and evaluate themselves.

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3. GENERAL TEACHING STRATEGIES

1. English or Spanish in the classroom. Try your best to use only English in the
classroom. Use simple language that your students can understand. Only use
Spanish if you notice that your students are very frustrated, and try to make it only a
few seconds. Then say what you said in English too. Be sure to repeat when
necessary; use your hands; use the board to write a keyword.

2. Instructions. Now, let’s think about how to give instructions. Instructions for
activities are very important. Review what the students are going to do in the
activity before they start. Read the instructions aloud for your students and have
them follow along in the book as you read. Then ask a couple students to tell you
and /or a partner what they understood that they need to do before starting the
activity.

3. Pair work/group work. Whenever possible, try to have the students work in pairs
or small groups. The more opportunities they have to use the language, the more
they learn! Be sure to give them the language they need for each activity. For
example, you can teach them to ask each other, “What’s the answer for number 1?”
Have them practice this collaborative language in chunks, as a whole phrase, as a
whole class, first. Then, have them work in pairs. Because this language is in
context, the students do not need to know the “grammar” that is in the language.

4. Vocabulary. New vocabulary is presented throughout the module in context and

included in a list in the teacher’s guide, that indicates the page in the module where
the word is presented. Base word. If students ask, “What does X mean?”, first see if
the student can make an educated guess from the context. If not, ask other students
if they can answer by explaining the word in English. If other students cannot do
this, you as the teacher can explain it in English. For example, if a student asks,
“What does wallet mean?”, you can say, “It is where people can keep money and
credit cards.” Spanish can be used to help students see similarities between English
and Spanish words (like station and estacion). But beware of false cognates: words
in Spanish and English that look similar but have different meanings (like
embarrassed that looks like embarazada but actually means avergonzado/a). You
can put the vocabulary words on papers around the classroom and frequently
pronounce them together. To practice at home, students can make vocabulary cards
with the word on one side and a picture or simple definition on the other.

5. SPEAKING
In the Communicative Approach, speaking activities are key. Just like in the other skills,
students need preparation for the activities. Always have them work in pairs or small
groups. To see how to do this, you can use the general instructions for setting up activities
and giving instructions that we talked about earlier. Also, remember to give them the
collaborative language they need to interact during the activity. For example:

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“How do you say ….. (word in Spanish) in English?”

“What does ….(word in English) mean in Spanish?”
“I don’t understand. Please repeat.”
“It’s your turn,”
Within the Communicative Approach, the focus is communication. Error correction when
speaking is secondary. In other words, let students express themselves freely. You can write
down errors you hear and talk about them at the end of class, or simply repeat what a
student says in a correct way. For example, if a student says, “I went to Canada last year.
The people is very nice,” you can say, “Oh, the people are very nice there? That’s good!” It
is important to allow your students to use the language to communicate and that they feel
comfortable expressing themselves orally in English.

MODULE 1
I never imagined that only bacteria inhabited
GRADE 1st BGU out planet for millions of years.
LESSON TITLE: THE HISTORY OF And plants??? I did not know that they
OUR WORLD started growing on land before any other
living thing…
PAGE 2 They were like mosses without any flowers…
COMMUNICATION AND CULTURAL when did they appear?
AWARENESS Like 470 million years ago…
Answers: may vary. What about amphibians? They were fish that
Teacher Tip: adapted to live on land and evolved into
Start talking about ss ideas of the origin of the reptiles…
universe and planet. Reptiles came from amphibians… they were
Guide the use of correct language. many sizes, even though they shared the same
Additional ideas main characteristics…
Find some short videos or draw a graphic Let´s wait for the next class about
organizer from different culture perspectives. dinosaurs… I am really looking forward to
Extra resources it!!!
https://bit.ly/2QEYwv4 •Answers:
Bacteria - b, c, d
Plants - a, c, d
PAGE 3
Amphibians - a, b, c.
ORAL COMMUNICATION
Reptiles - a, d
Script:
Teacher tip:
If students are really interested in the origins
Don’t you think today’s class was extremely
of life, they can do further research guided by
interesting?
the teacher and present the main points to the
Yeah! It was great I didn’t know that much
other students.
about the first living things on the planet…
like… that these microscopic beings, bacteria
PAGE 4
appeared about 3.5 billion years ago…
READING
I didn’t know that cyanobacteria were the
Answers:
ones that released oxygen to the
•F. The environment during the Pre-Cambrian
atmosphere!!!
was very toxic.

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•F. It mentions only one-celled living beings
not cyanobacteria specifically.
•F. Fish appeared before amphibians.
Amphibians evolved from fish.
•T. (They first appeared in water as algae and
then went to land.)
•F. The first fish appeared during the
Ordovician period.
Teacher Tip:
Introduce the topic by asking your students
what they know about the origin of life. Ask
them if it is important to know about it.
Ask them if they know about other theories.
Elicit the use of correct language.
Extra resources
https://bit.ly/2bEv7PM
https://bit.ly/2EOOlzd
PAGE 5
WRITING
Answers:
Learned, appeared, arrived, hit, helped,
thought.
•Activity: Answer the questions. Answers:
may vary.
•Grammar: Use previous materials and
reading passages as examples to introduce
Simple Past.
PAGE 7
ORAL COMMUNICATION
Teacher tip: Explore students´ knowledge
for fossils and listen to the audio or read the
following script. Then, answer the questions.
Script:
Fossils are the preserved remains of plants
and animals that lived long ago. They give
scientists clues about the past. Fossils are the
footprints of living things that existed. Almost
all living organisms can become fossils. A
fossil forms when an animal or plant dies in a
special wet or muddy environment. Usually
only hard parts of animals such as shells or
bones can become fossils, but tracks, eggs,
plants, and insects can also leave traces.
There are two kinds of fossils:
Stone Fossils: They are formed when animals
die in a wet environment. All soft tissues
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decay. Mud presses on bones, as they decay
some minerals get in the spaces and petrify.
Some plant and animal traces can also be
printed in rock.
Whole body fossils: Some ancient animals
are preserved in different ways. Insects that
stayed trapped in tree sap that solidifies and
becomes amber preserve their bodies. Some
great mammals stayed trapped in ice for
thousands of years and their bodies are
mostly intact.
Source: https://bit.ly/2QCQtPv /
https://bit.ly/2UXjf1O
https://bit.ly/2rDfBLG
Answers: may vary. Have students read each
other’s answers.
Extra resources
https://bit.ly/1m2WFiS
PAGE 8
COMMUNICATION AND CULTURAL
AWARENESS
Teacher tip:
This topic may be very interesting for the
students and they might be eager to
investigate more about it.
Start discussing students’ knowledge on the
topic.
Use graphic organizers or drawings to
improve writing or speaking skills.
PAGE 9
ORAL COMMUNICATION
Teacher tip:
Start with discussing students’ knowledge on
the topic.
Play the audio or read the following to your
students. Guide them to answer the questions
with complete sentences.
Script:
Mesozoic: Large dinosaurs dominated the
landscape, as well as flying reptiles the sky.
Plants with seeds spread and gigantic marine
reptiles dominated the water. It is divided in
three periods.
Triassic: First little mammals and first
dinosaurs.
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Jurassic: There were huge plant-eaters like You might want to use a rubric to grade the
Brachiosaurus or Diplodocus, and diorama. To create rubrics for specific
carnivores as Stegosaurus. In water, purposes you can visit:
Plesiosaurs, giant marine crocodiles, and http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php?
Ammonites were abundant. skin=es&lang=es
Cretaceous: Plant life was exuberant. Some
dinosaurs of this period are Argentinosaurus, PAGE 13
Triceratops, Tyrannosaurus rex and ORAL COMMUNICATION
Spinosaurus. Little rodents were all around. Script:
Insects were abundant. There was a mass Interviewer: Today we welcome Sandy T.
extinction. Brown, a paleontologist.
EXTRA ACTIVITY: You can watch a movie Sandy: Thank you so much.
about dinosaurs and classify all the ones that Interviewer: Please tell us about natural
appear in the movie according to the period history museums.
they lived. Sandy: Natural History Museums are very
popular all around the world. Imagine seeing
PAGE 10 giant dinosaurs’ fossil, extinct mammals’
READING fossils or life-size dioramas, and listen to
Teacher tip: information about the strangest animals of
Talk about the topic of mass extinction and our planet. They are so important for
encourage students to talk about their humanity and the world…
knowledge or investigate more. Interviewer: Why are they so important?
Answers: They are very important in the world because
1. a of the great amounts of information about
2. a biodiversity, evolution, genetics, and impact
3. 65 million years ago at the end of the produced by climate change. Studying our
Cretaceous period. natural history help us understand how life
4. 95% of marine species develops and also give us some clues about
the future of humanity.
PAGE 11 Los Angeles Natural Museum has about 35
WRITING million objects or specimens related to a
Teacher tip: moment of our history and present. When
Star working the writing process on students’ someone says they discovered a new species,
notebooks and write as many drafts as we can compare it with similar species and
necessary giving feedback, so students can determine if it is new or not.
keep improving. Interviewer: Thank you so much Sandy!
You may use the following sources to guide Museums are very important.
you: Answers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch? F. Sandy T. Brown is a paleontologist.
v=L1J9ZPVydrc F. They are talking about Natural History
https://www.youtube.com/watch? Museums.
v=sFrHK7cHzkA Underline:
b, e.
PAGE 12 Missing words
LANGUAGE THROUGH THE ARTS When someone says they discovered a new
Teacher tip: species, we can compare it with similar
Do not focus only on the artwork but on the species and determine if it is new or not.
oral description.

11

Teacher tip: Try to watch the suggested
video and, if possible, take the students to a
museum to complete the activities.
Extra resources
https://bit.ly/314ZJAs
PAGE 14 and 15
Activity 1: Check: # 3
Activity 2: 3.A 2.B 1. B
Activity 3: Use the “Writing Rubric”
Activity 4: My friends visited London last
week. Student tells us about museums they
visited in New York. I got bored when I
studied History but now, I love it.
PAGE 16
Teacher tip: Let students be creative and use
any available material for the project. Try to
use a rubric to grade it.
PAGE 17
Answers: may vary.
PAGE 18
COMMUNICATION AND CULTURAL
AWARNESS
Teacher tip:
Talk about students´ family or community
beliefs about the origin of humans. Do not
underestimate any of their perspectives. Read
the information and make them see other
world views.
PAGE 19
ORAL COMMUNICATION
Script:
HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
The study of human origins, involves
figuring out how and when human beings
began to exist. Scientists have many
different theories about human origins
but it is known it all began something like
three million years ago from early
ancestors that were primates too, like
monkeys, gorillas, or chimpanzees.
The process by which one type of living
thing develops into another type is called
evolution. Most research shows that there
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were two groups of primates, probably
very similar to chimpanzees that lived in
Africa. It seems that a group of them
lived near enough resources while the
others lived in open fields which forced
them to walk upright and become faster.
Over millions of years, differences
increased and they started to look more
like the humans we are today while the
other group stayed as apes.
The primitive humans did not have
natural protection against predators like
scales or sharp claws. Instead, they
develop a super smart brain that they
used to find solutions. Walking on two
feet instead of four, helped them start
using hands that combined with smart
brains allowed them build shelter,
clothes, weapon, and tools to help them
hunt and survive.
Taken and adapted
from:https://www.fatherly.com/parenting/
heres-how-a-darwin-explains-evolution-
to-kids/
https://kids.britannica.com/kids/article/
human-origins/353271
Answers:
1. 3 million years ago.
2. Primates, monkeys, gorillas.
3. Chimpanzees
4. Lived/ of the lived - open
5. Humans
6. Super smart brain – shelter, clothes,
weapons, and tools – survive.
True or false.
1. F, 2. T. 3, T, 4. 5. F, 6. F, 7. T.1
PAGE 20
COMMUNICATION AND CULTURAL
AWARENESS
OBJECTIVES
Be aware about positive and negative effects
of humans I the world beyond cultural
differences.
Teacher tip: Guide students to write the list
requested using complete sentences.
PAGE 21
12

WRITING
Teacher tip: Follow all the steps of the
writing process and give appropriate feedback
to students.
Use the writing rubric.
PAGE 22
LANGUAGE THROUGH THE ARTS
Teacher tip: Guide the students through all
the process.
PAGE 23
ORAL COMMUNICATION
Transcripts below would help you guide
students in this activity.
Script:
People around the world are concerned
about protecting nature and using natural
resources cautiously. There are lots of
international agreements to protect the
environment. In the early XX century, some
countries signed some treaties to protect
species of commercial value. Between 1930
and 1940 many countries subscribed to
agreements related marine fisheries and the
First Convention for the Regulation of
Whaling.
Between 1950 and 1970 some countries
negotiated on oil spill, marine pollution, and
nuclear energy use. The Stockholm
Conference in 1972 was historic because it
was the first-time many countries got
together and focused on environmental
problems in general. In 1992, the Rio
Declaration reinforced the interest in
respecting nature.
In 2016, the Paris agreement was
successfully signed by all 55 countries that
produced the most CO2 pollution and others
interested in reducing gas emissions,
including Ecuador. Their promise is to start
reducing greenhouse gases in 2020. In 2017,
the United States left the treaty claiming that
it would harm their economy.
PAGE 25
ORAL COMMUNICATION
OBJECTIVES
Listen to specific details.
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Understand the use of zero and first
conditionals.
Script:
Are you reading the news? “Our planet is
suffering an accelerated destruction”.
It says there will be water shortage very
soon if we do not start doing something.
Fresh water is a real concern! I am going
to start saving some water. I will take
shorter showers. I am starting tomorrow!
People in my town are going to have
vegetable gardens, so they will grow their
own food without toxic chemicals. We are
going to help reduce monocultures!
Some small villages in Europe are going
to use solar panels to produce electricity
during the summer and they say it will
reduce the consumption of energy. In the
future most cities will use alternative
energy resources.
A documentary said that due to large-
scale fishery and whaling, marine life is
endangered and most will disappear in a
few years.
Plastic is a problem. Scientist say by
2030 there will be more plastic than fish
in the oceans. My friends are trying
reusable bags for shopping and
containers for take-out meals and I am
going to start using my reusable bottle.
Not only marine life is in danger but
hundreds of land species too. Many states
are going to start reducing greenhouse
gases emission in 2020.
Answers:
1.There will be a little. 2. Use solar panels. 3.
Plastic items will be more numerous than
fish. 4. It may reduce monocultures. 5. Take
shorter showers.
PAGE 26
READING
Extra resources
13

https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=CXzYcElq_RU
PAGE 27
WRITING
Teacher tip:
Work the graphic organizer on the board to
show the students how to use it and guide
them to write the paragraph.
PAGE 28
LANGUAGE THROUGH THE ARTS
This activity can become a school project if
students present it.
PAGE 29
ORAL COMMUNICATION
Script:
Galapagos Islands are a remote paradise
known by people from around the world.
It is also famous because Charles Darwin
proposed his Evolution Theory by
observing unique animals and plants and
analyzing how they were different from
the same species in different places of the
world. Even though 97% of the islands
are visited or inhabited by humans many
of their coasts are covered by plastic
remains. Animals are now used to live on
plastic and many are hurt by it.
According to some experts most plastic in
Galapagos Islands come from South
America, Central America and even from
Asia. Most of the plastic garbage found in
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the islands is bottles. Plastic that arrives
to the islands does not decompose, it
becomes smaller and smaller and all
those tiny particles become part of the
food chains. Sooner or later we all will
eat plastic in food coming from the
ocean. Sad as it is, we still have hope, it
up to us to reduce using single use plastic
and start with reusable items. It will save
us all!
Activity answers:
1.T, 2. F: Plastic comes from South and
Central America, Asia. 3. F. It becomes
smaller but never decomposes. 4. F. The
plastic garbage patch is larger than Ecuador
5. T, 6. F. We have to use reusable items to
avid pollution.
PAGE 30 AND 31
ASSESSMENT
ANSWERS
Activity 1:
a. F. There are some robots at homes already.
b. F. They clean by themselves.
c. F. Robots do dangerous activities.
d. T
e. T
a. My friends are going to Europe next year.
b. Some people say there will be flying cars
in the future.
c. My train leaves at 3:30 pm.
d. My friends will help me with my Math
homework tonight.
14